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Jeffrey Edmonds is an expert on Russia and Eurasia. His research focuses on the Russian military, foreign policy, Russian threat perceptions, and Russian information and cyber operations.

Most recently, Edmonds served as the Director for Russia on the National Security Council and acting Senior Director for Russia during the 2017 presidential transition. While on the NSC, Edmonds advised the president and his senior staff on Russia-related national security topics including the Ukraine and Syria crises, Russian military, foreign policy, threat perceptions, and information operations. Edmonds was also the lead director during a review of the United States policy towards Russia, culminating in a presidentially approved strategy that had global impact.

Prior to the NSC, Edmonds served as a military analyst with the Central Intelligence Agency, covering Eurasian militaries. He has served in the U.S. Army on both active duty and the reserves for 22 years, with tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Edmonds holds an M.P.A. from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, an M.A. from Boston University in Religious Studies, and a B.S. from the United States Military Academy at West Point. He has a working knowledge of Russian.

RECENT NEWS

September 12, 2018

Jeffrey Edmonds says, “Both militaries are definitely benefiting from learning to work together. They are learning how to share intelligence, how to operate together, they are basically understanding each other better militarily, and that could definitely benefit either country, whether together or separately, in any potential conflict with the United States.”

Jeffrey Edmonds says, “There are two things here. First is President’s Trump’s inability to disassociate meddling in the election with his own worries of collusion, and what bothers me there is basically we’re saying he can’t put the core interest of national security first. The second part of this is he thinks something [controversial is] out there.”

CNN: “One Week Later, Still No Information on What Happened During Trump-Putin Meeting” [11:51-11:58]

July 20, 2018

Jeffrey Edmonds says, “I think when you boil it down, the Iranian concern over Israel outweighs its concern over its relationship with Russia... It’s not as if the Russians are going to in some way downgrade their relationship with Iran because they’re not going to pull back these militias.”

The Arab Weekly: “U.S.-Russia Deal Could Force Iranians out of Southern Syria”

July 20, 2018

Jeffrey Edmonds says, “Putin sees an opportunity here. Trump is weak, and provides [Putin] an opportunity to really communicate to the Russian people and the world overall that Russia is back as a great power again.”